Hello everyone. I've been playing for about 24 years now, primarily as a matched grip player. I've been very busy the past few years with several local bands, but have since quit all my bands to focus more time on family. I've also decided to use some of that time to do something I've always wanted to do, which is to really get into developing my traditional grip playing. I've been working hard at it for several months, and its really getting comfortable. I'm getting around the kit better every day (which was the biggest challenge, for a while there I was ok playing grooves, but when it was time to leave the snare and go around the kit for a fill...oh boy!). Ben Sesar (drummer for Brad Paisley) wrote a great article in Modern Drummer a few years back detailing his switch to trad, and its been a great reference guide for me. He states in this article how he plays with a different flair with traditional, and how he feels like he's in alignment with the history of the drumset and the great players of the past, and I feel it too. I'm really enjoying my journey into traditional grip, and its re-kindled my love for the drums. So many of my favorite players are trad grip players, and its becoming more apparent to me every day why they favor this grip. Looking forward to learning more from the contributors to this thread.